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Eating Disorders

Binge Eating

What are Eating Disorders?

Disordered eating often (but not always) occurs in affluent cultures, especially in America, where anorexia nervosa (voluntary starvation) and bulimia nervosa (binge-eating followed by purging) now afflict one in ten people.

Most of the diagnosed are young women in their teens and 20s, but the prevalence is increasing among young men each year.

Among the most baffling of conditions, eating disorders take on a life of their own so that eating, or not eating, becomes the point of everyday existence. Both anorexia and bulimia are powered by a desire for control.

But in another eating disorder, binge-eating, in which people gorge on large amounts of food and generally gain weight, sufferers feel that eating is out of their control during such bouts.

Both culturally mediated body-image concerns and personality traits like perfectionism and obsessiveness play a large role in creating eating disorders, which are also often accompanied by depression and/or anxiety.

There is no magic cure for these conditions, which are often resistant to treatment, and many cases can be acutely life-threatening, requiring hospitalization and forced nourishment.

The establishment and assuredness of a safe and trusting relationship between patient and therapist prior to making the transition from office to on-line, plus symptoms being well under control or gone, then YES, my experience has shown that continued progress and recovery is possible, particularly for eating disorder patients with underlying anxiety & depression.

The question remains: Are girls truly thriving as never before? The answer is both yes and no. Yes, girls certainly have unprecedented opportunities available to them. Yes, many are walking through open doors that were closed to previous generations. Yet an insidious pressure has crept in alongside these opportunities: To be a success, girls, you have to do it all...

I have created a compassion cure program for former victims of trauma that includes: self-understanding, self-forgiveness, self-acceptance, self-kindness, and self-encouragement. This article focuses on the first of these five components of self-compassion.

Lianne* came to see me for help with her eating. "I can't stand myself," she said. "I've tried every diet I can think of. I lose weight...and then I gain it all back...and more." Lianne was smart and very funny. She had a successful job and many women friends. But she didn't like her body. And she didn't like herself.

Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight is a motivational quote I tell many of my clients, particularly when they are making efforts to change their eating and they slide back into old habits. Get 20 motivational quotes to get you inspired to get started and moving forward today!

The bottom line is this: Dads: you make a significant difference in how your daughter will feel about her body and appearance, as well as her overall self esteem. Consider some of the following strategies to help your daughter maintain a positive body image throughout her girlhood and adolescence...

Adolescence.
At times synonymous with daily dramas….
until she takes her own life
or he brings a gun to school—and uses it.
This blog contains a list of books, fictional and/or autobiographical, that speak to these tragic scenarios, as well as to dysfunctional behaviors (including cutting and eating disorders) that are often linked to bullying.

Moderate exercise is associated with benefits on mood, anxiety, cognition, and sleep. But how much exercise is too much exercise? Here are 5 ways to evaluate your exercise pattern and mindset to ensure that you are working towards true physical and psychological health.

Here is the reality: It can be damaging to our daughters if we are critical of our own appearance. I know this is a sobering thought for all moms. One of the best predictors of whether a girl will have negative body image is if her mother has negative body image...

We often want the answers to life's biggest dilemmas to be complicated, enabling or even pricey. But sometimes the best advice we can receive comes without any fancy packaging, outrageous promises or gratuitous politeness.

One of the problems that I see frequently is patients with cross addiction, specifically those who are also being given “legitimate” prescription medications such as stimulants, benzodiazepines, opiates for bona fide symptoms.

Media drives the cultural bus regarding body size and shape. Ways to alter and enhance our bodies are available through cosmetics and cosmetic surgery. Being tied to cultural dictates is not a statement of low self-worth; or is it?

Do you love summer salads? I did some research on whether it is helpful to serve/order a salad before or during a meal and how it impacts your appetite. And, I give an exciting new type of salad that can help you to eat more mindful.

Experts weigh in! A registered dietician, nutritionist, a weight loss coach and others provide their most essential advice for weight loss. Surprisngly, no two people came up with the exact same advice!

What do you feel like you have to have first thing in the morning that might give a nutritionist a panic attack? By paying attention to how you feel (how you really feel), you might just realize these substances aren't what you're craving after all. And as our tastes change, our bodies, minds and health can change—for the better.

Does a depressive disorder lead to weight gain or does weight gain lead to a depressive disorder? Studies in the past few years seem to indicate a “bidirectional relationship” between excessive weight and depression, with major public health implications.